The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 389 Zhu Jingkun Goes to Jiangnan
Zhu Jingkun’s enthusiasm is actually not very high now.

In the early years, Zhu Jingkun still felt that as the eldest son of the emperor, he had an advantage in the competition for heir.

But in recent years, I have started to think the other way around.

Zhu Jingkun began to feel that being the eldest son was not an advantage but rather a huge disadvantage.

It is even possible that I have been eliminated early because of this identity.

The logic of succession to the throne in the classical era of Shenzhou should be formally described as the patriarchal system.

In modern times, it is usually generally referred to as the "primogeniture system."

This is a system of rules that clarifies the priority of heirs.

It does not mean that only when the "eldest son" succeeds to the throne can the "primogeniture system" be observed.

Moreover, "eldest son" is a general term, referring to "legitimate son" and "eldest son". In theory, a comma should be used between "legitimate" and "eldest son".

The legitimate son and the eldest son are not a specific person, but a general term for two identity labels.

That is why in ancient times there was a saying that a certain prince was “both the legitimate and the eldest”, instead of simply saying that he was the “eldest legitimate son”.

In ancient times, there was actually no such concept as "eldest son" or "second son".

Strictly speaking, there are only "legitimate" and "shu", and there is only one "legitimate", which means inheritance. Shu originally means other and ordinary.

Under the patriarchal system, "legitimate" refers specifically to the oldest and still alive son born to the first queen.

The correct term for the queen's other sons is "legitimate sons and brothers from the same mother", which means "brothers from the same mother as the heir", or other sons of the heir's mother.

Strictly speaking, they are also illegitimate sons, not the so-called second sons, third sons, etc.

However, their order of succession is indeed before other illegitimate sons, because they have the same mother as the legitimate son and are the legitimate son's brothers from the same mother.

The general order of succession to the throne is: legitimate son - legitimate son's brother from the same mother - eldest son - other illegitimate sons.

On this basis, even if the legitimate son, the legitimate son's half-brother, the eldest illegitimate son, or even most of the other illegitimate sons are dead, and only a youngest illegitimate son is left to succeed to the throne, his succession is still based on the legitimate son's inheritance system.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty now has no empress, and naturally no legitimate son.

As the eldest son, Zhu Jingkun was the first heir to the throne according to the system of primogeniture.
Zhu Jingkun's father, the emperor, has made it clear that he wants to abolish the system of primogeniture.

Zhu Jingkun felt that his father did this to demonstrate his determination to abolish and reform, and to avoid any misunderstandings among future generations.

It is likely that the first heir under the system of primogeniture will be specifically excluded.

It is very likely that he deliberately did not allow his eldest son to succeed to the throne.

Moreover, medicine in the Ming Dynasty is developing rapidly, and the elderly in wealthy families are generally living longer and longer.

There is a high probability that my father will live to be eighty years old, and I will be sixty years old by then.

If he were the emperor, he would choose a younger son to succeed him.

The more Zhu Jingkun thought about it, the more he felt that this was extremely likely, so much so that his enthusiasm for work has rapidly decreased in the past two years.

I just want to complete the training process, get the title of prince, and then consider whether I can find a place with good conditions to become a vassal king.

Now my father has given me another troublesome thing, and I feel quite depressed.

As for whether or not to allow women to take the imperial examinations and whether or not to allow women to serve as officials in the court, Zhu Jingkun himself found this issue very troublesome.

Zhu Jingkun instinctively felt that even if women were allowed to take part in the imperial examinations, it would not have any impact on society.

The very few women who wanted to take the exam were unable to make a mark either in the examination hall or at court.

However, if they were allowed to serve as officials in the court, considering the issue of physical contact between men and women, various matters in the officialdom would become very troublesome.

Originally, the officials only had exchanges of interests with each other, but with the presence of female officials, emotional relationships might arise.

However, if they are really not allowed to participate at all, they may ask for permission every now and then, and may even feel resentful about it.

The previous Jiangnan education commissioner was made irritable by the turmoil, and the actual fraud problem was also exposed.

No matter what choice you make, you will have to face a lot of troubles in the future.

When Zhu Jingkun thought about these things, he began to understand why bureaucrats hate change.

Coupled with what his father said, Zhu Jingkun felt more instinctively irritated and resistant.

That is, allowing women to take the imperial examinations and serve as officials in the court might lead to a situation where there are more female officials than male officials.

If someone else said something similar, Zhu Jingkun would not take it to heart. He would definitely think that the other person was talking nonsense and deliberately sensationalizing in order to make a profit.

But his father, the emperor, was different. Most of his previous speculations and analyses had gradually come true.

Therefore, any speculation about him must be considered carefully.

At the same time, Zhu Jianxuan's sons lived in a very special environment.

Their mothers were all smart girls specially selected, and the key was to study math problems together all day long.

This led to Zhu Jingkun and his younger brothers not thinking that women were stupider than men, so they were able to think about this issue relatively objectively.

The more Zhu Jingjian thought about it objectively, the more he felt that this question was ridiculous.

According to the teachings of Emperor Dad, most of the social problems in this world are essentially economic problems.

That is, issues related to assets, money, and interests.

As long as we start from this angle and then compare by controlling variables, most problems can be easily solved.

If a person wants to take the imperial examination, he must first have basic resources. Not only must he ensure that he has enough food and clothing during the study period, but he must also spend money to buy the items he needs for study.

Men’s resources come from their parents’ families and their personal income.

If the family is relatively wealthy, the family and clan assets can provide for a group of children, who can concentrate on studying for the imperial examinations without having to worry about other issues.

There is little difference between men and women in this regard.

For the average well-off family, especially the increasing number of working-class families today, the situation is beginning to change.

Parents in an average family can support their children until adulthood, and may even support them through middle school and even college, but it is impossible for them to support their children for their entire lives.

According to Zhu Jingkun's local experience, ordinary working-class families also hope that their children can pass the imperial examination and become officials.

However, most of them cannot always support their children to take exams. If their children fail for several consecutive years, they will usually let their children work in factories and start a family.

Then the child will have to start supporting his wife and children on his own, and will not have the opportunity to continue taking the exam.

Therefore, boys from ordinary families usually only have a few opportunities to take the exam, and after failing many times, they have to consider finding other ways to make a living.

If it is a girl, she can be raised by her own parents before marriage, just like boys.

After marriage, the wife is supported by her husband.

If their parents and husbands allow them to take the exam, even if they come from ordinary families, they will have the opportunity to take the exam until they are old. For the poorest families, whose income can barely meet their basic needs, both men and women have no chance to go to school, and naturally no chance to take the exam...

When Zhu Jingkun's thoughts came to this point, they suddenly froze:
"No, boys from such families have no chance. If a girl marries into a more affluent family, she will have a chance to take the exam after marriage."

Although there were many truly wealthy families, traditional gentry and new factory owners among the people, they were still rare compared to the entire Ming Dynasty.

The largest number of families are those at or below the well-off level, down to the barely adequate subsistence level, far outnumbering the gentry and factory owners.

Taking these actual situations into consideration, the potential number of girls who can take the imperial examination is obviously far greater than that of boys.

If other existing conditions remain unchanged and there is really no essential difference in intelligence between women and men, simply allow women to take the imperial examinations and enter the court to participate in politics.

It is very likely that the result analyzed by my father will appear.

It all comes down to an economic issue. Boys have to consider survival issues when they become adults, but girls do not need to consider this issue. They rely on the resources of their father or husband to survive.

After they pass the examination to become officials, they will be able to live on the resources provided by the court, and the court's resources are produced by people all over the world.

The vast majority of craftsmen and laborers in factories, construction sites, and farmlands are men.

From the beginning to the end, they never had to support themselves and were economically dependent on men, but they were able to manage all men by becoming officials through imperial examinations?

Zhu Jingkun felt that there was nothing wrong with the logic behind this, but as a man he instinctively resisted this situation.

Subconsciously, they wanted to directly ban women from taking the imperial examinations and from serving as officials in the court.

After thinking so much, Zhu Jingkun finally understood why he instinctively suggested banning women from taking the imperial examinations after listening to his father's analysis.

But Zhu Jingkun reacted quickly and immediately remembered what his father the emperor often reminded him.

I am a prince, and I have to consider the world and the prosperity and stability of the country...

Let men with better physical strength do mainly physical work, and let women with no obvious difference in intelligence but physical defects be managers?
This seems to be in line with the logic of "those who work with their minds rule others, and those who work with their hands are ruled by others", and seems to be able to maximize the use of people's power?
However, if the imperial court really wanted to do this, the existing patriarchal family ethics might be completely overturned.

The point is, it’s not that men can’t be managers, but that they can be managers and also do physical work.

Because of women's physical disadvantage, men who are equally capable of doing mental work and managing others have to do manual labor and be controlled by weaker women.

If this continues, strong men will inevitably feel resentful, and there may even be a riot against women, but women's physical weaknesses make them unable to resist.

The final result is that men can only regain their dominant position through violent suppression.

Then women were forbidden to take the imperial examinations, forbidden to serve as officials in the court, and were only allowed to stay at home to take care of their husbands and children.

Everything is back to square one again...

As a prince, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, I must not allow this cycle to happen, and I should keep the relationship between the two sides at the most reasonable stage.

But which stage is the most reasonable? And how to maintain it?
This requires special investigation and analysis, and even local social control experiments.

"I really don't want to do this kind of thing. Although I am a prince, I probably won't have the chance to succeed to the throne. For an ordinary prince, what can I do to benefit myself?"

Zhu Jingkun sat in the car and thought for a long time. When he felt some pain on his head, he couldn't help but sighed absentmindedly:
"I am a little envious of my sixteenth brother now. It would be so comfortable to go overseas and be a king..."

Zhu Jingkun spent the New Year in Shuntian Prefecture. After the beginning of the 25th year of Tiangong, he took a train south with his guards and servants to take up his post in Suzhou, the seat of the Three Offices of Jiangnan.

The Jiangnan Governor and the Chief Censor, as well as the main officials under the two yamen, all paid their respects together at the governor's yamen.

When the two sides met and greeted each other, Zhu Jingkun found that the expressions of these officials were unnatural, and they seemed not very happy about the eldest prince coming here for training.

Zhu Jingkun had anticipated their reaction.

According to the rules set by his father, after he comes here for training, the main officials here will have no chance to come to Beijing to take up positions before he becomes the heir.

If you are a Tongpan and your superior is only a prefect, your chances of going to Beijing are slim, so naturally there won't be much change in your mentality.

But he is now a councilor and education commissioner of the provincial government, and his direct superiors are the governor and the criminal justice commissioner.

Their current rank is already on par with the chief officers of various departments in the capital. If they continue to be promoted, they will have the opportunity to take up positions in Beijing.

Moreover, this is Jiangnan, the richest place in the Ming Dynasty and the most important place besides the Bohai Rim region.

Officials who work here have a greater chance of promotion.

Now that I have suddenly come here, I have trapped both of them. For the next ten years at least, they will have to wander around in circles.

It would be strange if these two people were happy to see me.

But Zhu Jingkun was the eldest prince, and he would not allow them to show him disdain. Seeing their expressions, he asked with a straight face:
"Do you know why the emperor arranged for me to come here? Don't you know what happened under your rule?

"Don't you take the things you exposed to heart?

"Do you know that the emperor has taken this matter to heart? He transferred Liang Zhangju directly to Beijing to inquire about the situation, and then sent me here to conduct on-site research!"

The expressions of the governor and the chief judge suddenly fell.

They immediately thought of Liang Zhangju's memorial and became extremely annoyed and angry.

First of all, the two of them envied and even jealous of Liang Zhangju himself.

This stubborn fellow went to the capital with a memorial and went directly to work in the Ministry of Rites, even before the eldest prince arrived.

As a result, I got myself stuck here.

Then there was the resentment towards the previous Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, and other educational officials in the Jiangnan region.

This group of guys condoned women to take the imperial examinations. The key point was that they made it happen that widows took part in the annual examinations. They also happened to run into a stubborn guy named Liang Zhangju.

The key point is that now I realize that I have missed the point and I have done something that has made the emperor concerned and unhappy.

It is really hard to say what the future of these officials will be.

The two of them subconsciously opened their mouths to say something.

But Zhu Jingkun looked at their faces, their expressions and the changes in their mouths, and he spoke directly to them:

"Are you still not convinced now? Then what were you doing before? Are you unhappy now that the truth has been exposed? Do you think I like this job?

"What kind of nonsense are you guys having here? My father has been nagging at me for quite a while.

"You'd better cooperate with me wholeheartedly and get this matter sorted out as soon as possible, otherwise you may not be able to take on the position of provincial governor or judicial inspector!
"Don't worry about whether my coming here will affect your promotion. Do you think the emperor wants to see you?"

After being scolded by Zhu Jingkun, the mentality of the officials on the scene has completely reversed.

They finally realized that although they were unhappy about this matter, the eldest prince was even more unhappy and felt that they had given him a hot potato.

The eldest prince might not have been arranged to come here.

The key point is that he made the emperor unhappy. He already had no chance to be promoted directly and it had nothing to do with whether the eldest prince came here or not.

One can even look at it the other way around; after the eldest prince arrived, they had the opportunity to redeem themselves for their crimes.

Their expressions naturally changed along with their mentality. They quickly apologized and swore to cooperate with the eldest prince to get to the bottom of the matter.

(End of this chapter)